猝然離世的桑德伯格丈夫是個什麼樣的人

Here are some of the descriptions you’ll be hearing in coming days about Dave Goldberg, who died suddenly Friday at 47: friend, dad, husband, brother, Midwesterner, entrepreneur, poker player, mensch, investor, mentor.

戴夫·戈德伯格上週五突然去世，年僅47歲。今後幾天，你會聽到人們用這些詞描述他：朋友、父親、丈夫、兄弟、美國中西部人、企業家、撲克愛好者、正人君子、投資者、創業導師。

It is with no hyperbole to say Goldberg was one of the most beloved among the truly successful people in Silicon Valley. He was a bright kid from Minnesota who graduated from Harvard and landed in Los Angeles working in the music industry. He made his bones selling a music startup to Yahoo, where he stayed on for a time as an executive in the Terry Semel era.

毫不誇張地說，戈德伯格是硅谷最受敬愛的成功人士之一。他的家鄉在明尼蘇達州，從小聰明過人。從哈佛大學畢業後，他遠赴洛杉磯投身音樂行業。由於將一手成立的音樂公司賣給了雅虎，戈德伯格在業內聲名鵲起。之後他還留在公司管理過一段時間，時任雅虎CEO是特里o塞梅爾。

He was already a big deal when he met a big-deal executive at Google, Sheryl Sandberg. He eventually moved north when they became a couple. Goldberg went on to lead the investment group that bought SurveyMonkey, the cash-generating online company that pioneered the “freemium” business model so popular today with next-generation software companies like Evernote, Dropbox, and Eventbrite.

戈德伯格認識謝莉爾o桑德伯格時，桑德伯格是風頭正勁的谷歌高管，他自己在業內也頗有聲名。兩人結爲伉儷後，戈德伯格最終選擇北上硅谷。隨後，戈德伯格領導的投資集團收購了非常賺錢的網絡調查服務公司SurveyMonkey，並開創了“免費增值”商業模式，這種模式如今盛行於Evernote、Dropbox和Eventbrite等新一代軟件公司。

(I wrote about SurveyMonkey in Fortune when Goldbergraised debt in 2013 as a way of delaying an IPO and again just recently when he debuted a new benchmarking service. Dave is the first person who explained to me that “freemium” was going to be a big deal. He also was a natural manager, and he spoke about talent in 2013 at Brainstorm Tech in Aspen. Check out the now poignant Q&A he did right before the conference. )

【2013年，我曾爲《財富》雜誌寫過一篇有關戈德伯格的報道。當時，戈德伯格選擇發債來推遲讓公司上市。前不久他帶領下的SurveyMonkey推出了一項新的標杆性服務，我也寫了文章。戈德伯格是第一個向我解釋爲何免費增值模式前途無量的人。】

Let’s cut straight to the chase about what everyone said about Dave Goldberg: Had he not been married to one of the most famous personalities in Silicon Valley, he would have been known first as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the Valley. I’ve known Goldberg for years, and being known as Sheryl Sandberg’s husband never bothered him in the least. He knew exactly who he was. A handful of years ago we had lunch because someone had suggested to him that he might hire me to work at SurveyMonkey. It took me about a minute to politely explain why I was fantastically happy doing what I was doing, which he understood immediately because he felt the same way about what he was doing. We spent the next part of lunch comparing notes about how blessed we were to be busy, fulfilled people who managed to spend plenty of time being dads and husbands too.

回到正題，讓我們來聽聽人們如何評價戈德伯格：即便當初沒與硅谷最有名的女性結婚，他也會作爲硅谷最成功的企業家之一爲人所知。我與戈德伯格相識多年，身爲雪莉o桑德伯格的丈夫這一事實從未對他有一絲一毫困擾。他很清楚地知道自己是誰。幾年前，我們曾一起吃過一頓午餐，因爲有人建議他邀請我加入SurveyMonkey。我花了大概一分鐘禮貌地解釋，我對當時手頭的工作非常滿意。他迅速心領神會，因爲他對自己的事業也有同感。那次午餐剩下的時間，我們都在討論自己有多麼幸運：工作忙碌又充實，還能有很多時間花在家庭中，當好父親和丈夫。

Goldberg had an encyclopedic knowledge of the history and nuanced relationships in the music industry and Silicon Valley. He had a talent for explaining the relevant fact in business transactions that were more complex than they needed to be. He was a quiet “angel” investor in multiple Silicon Valley deals, both individually and through VC funds that wanted access to his smarts and his contacts. He tended always to know what was going on, and if he didn’t he was the kind of guy who said he didn’t know.

戈德伯格熟知音樂產業和硅谷的種種過往，對業內的微妙關係瞭如指掌。他有一種天賦，能將複雜的商業交易解釋得清晰透徹。硅谷好幾筆交易中，他都悄無聲息地做了天使投資人，有時以個人身份，有時則通過一些風投基金。而風投之所以邀他參與，多是看中他的眼光和人脈。他總能看透事情本質，如果看不清也會坦然相告。

Goldberg was humble about his success, and he also was a gracious and generous connector. Every year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas he and brother Rob, a Los Angeles entrepreneur, hosted a dinner for their many, many friends in the technology and entertainment industries. I think Dave took great pride in knowing that the guest list was a combination of A-list industry players and his close personal friends. Often they were the same person. (No true recollection of Goldberg could fail to mention that he loved to play poker, often late into the night. He possessed a keen mathematical mind, and I’m told by reliable sources he usually won.)

戈德伯格對個人成功非常低調，在朋友圈中是謙和大度的核心人物。每年CES國際消費電子產品展期間，他和在洛杉磯做企業的兄弟羅伯特都會組織晚宴，邀請衆多科技界和娛樂界的朋友參加。往來嘉賓中既有業界大腕也有他私交甚篤的好友，而且來賓往往兼具這兩個身份，這點應該讓戈德伯格感到驕傲吧。（回憶起他，就不能漏掉酷愛玩撲克牌這一點，他經常玩到深夜。而且有可靠消息人士向我透露，他算牌能力超強，所以經常贏。）

I reached out by email to Goldberg for help on a story three days ago. He called an hour later, but I missed his call. He tried me again Thursday morning, and we spoke as he and Sandberg were on their way to the airport for a weekend getaway. As a journalist and a friend, it was a classic and amusing moment for me. I could hear Sandberg next to him doing business on the phone in her direct, businesslike manner. Goldberg did exactly what I asked him to: He made a helpful connection to a friend of his who might be helpful to me. That’s the kind of guy he was.

三天前，我曾發電郵向戈德伯格求助。一小時後他就給我打來電話，可我沒接到。週四上午，他打過來。我們說話的時候，他和桑德伯格正趕往機場準備週末出遊。身爲記者，同時也身爲戈德伯格的朋友，這種場景經常出現而且很有趣：我能聽到，電話那頭他身邊的桑德伯格正在打工作電話，口氣直接幹練。另一邊，戈德伯格也迅速解決了我的問題：介紹了一個可能幫得上忙的朋友給我。他就是這樣樂於助人。

You just don’t meet many people who are talented, successful, bright, kind, humble, and universally admired and liked.

在這個世界上，你很難碰到既才華出衆、事業有成、聰明友善，又謙遜、廣受敬仰和喜愛的人物。而戈德伯格就是這樣的人。

Words can’t begin to describe how much Dave Goldberg will be missed.

這一刻，言辭已無法形容對他的懷念。